April 24, 2009

THE TENANT — CLASSIC FILM PICK

Roman Polanski’s intense psychological thriller stars the director himself as Trelkovsky, a troubled file clerk who takes over the former apartment of a young female suicide victim named Simone Choule who jumped from its Parisian windows.

Trelkovsky comes to believe that his cruel, nagging neighbors were to blame for the woman’s suicide, and that they are now using the same bizarre methods to extract a similar response from him.

Shelly Winters provides one of her signature performances as an American concierge suspicious of Trelkovsky's every move.

Enigmatic performances from Isabelle Adjani as a chic friend of the deceased, and from Polanski as a man losing his sanity, contribute greatly to the film's heavy layers of suspense.

Polanski's keen eye for Paris locations, and brilliant visual compositions, make for sequences to savor.

Known as the last of Polanski’s apartment trilogy (following “Repulsion” and “Rosemary’s Baby”), “The Tenant” contains one of the most outrageous double climaxes ever committed to celluloid.Trelkovsky, as it turns out, is much tougher and harder to kill than anyone could imagine. Nightmares will follow.

Not Rated. 120 mins. (A+) (Five Stars)

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